NOVOROSSIYSK

also spelled Novorossijsk, or Novorssiisk, city, Krasnodar kray (region), southwestern Russia. It lies at the head of Tsemes Bay on the northeastern coast of the Black Sea. Founded as a fortress in 1838, it developed as a seaport, especially after the coming of the railway in 1888. In pre-Revolutionary days Novorossiysk was the largest grain-exporting port of Russia after Odessa. It is still a major Russian port on the Black Sea, with a naval base, shipbuilding yards, a refrigeration plant, grain elevators, and an oil-pipeline terminal. Novorossiysk is now one of the largest producers of cement in Russia. Pop. (1993 est.) 191,600.